Various services using the Internet have been provided, for example, a download service of music data (music content) through the Internet and an Internet shopping service enabling a user to purchase an item by transmitting an order through the Internet.
In the music data download service and the Internet shopping service, music data and items that would be liked by a user are introduced and recommended based on a music data download history and an item purchase history. Such provision of information is advantageous for both a provider and a user. That is, a service provider can use it for sales promotion, whereas a user of the service can save time to collect information.
Also, a trend of tastes of users is recognized in view of download histories of users who downloaded the same music data or purchase histories of users who purchased the same item, thereby specifying and recommending music data or item to be recommended. For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 11-3356 discloses a technique of visually displaying similarity in interest on a two-dimensional distance plane by considering interest states of users to be provided with information through the Internet.
By using the technique described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 11-3356, a similar user can be easily found, and information required by oneself can be easily searched for based on the interest of the similar user. That is, a user can actively search for and obtain necessary information, while the user can be only provided with recommendation information or the like from a provider in the related art.